Creating a unified, scalable design system to improve consistency, speed, and collaboration across web and mobile platforms.
Creating a unified, scalable design system to improve consistency, speed, and collaboration across web and mobile platforms.
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Proliant Design System
Proliant Design System
Building a Scalable Design System
Building a Scalable Design System
Project Type: Enterprise Design System
Role: Lead Designer
Timeline: 6 months
Platform: Web and Mobile Applications
Overview
Overview
Our company was facing inconsistencies across multiple products and platforms. Components looked different, interaction patterns were inconsistent, and onboarding new designers was slow. The goal was to create a unified design system that would improve design quality, consistency, and team efficiency across web and mobile platforms.
The Problem
The Problem
Inconsistent UI components across multiple applications led to high rework and slowed development.
Design teams were duplicating effort creating similar components for different products.
New designers had a steep onboarding curve due to lack of standardized design patterns.
Engineering struggled with unclear specifications and inconsistent interactions.
Goal: Build a scalable, maintainable, and accessible design system to reduce inconsistencies, speed up delivery, and improve cross-team collaboration.
Research
Research
Methods Used
Methods Used
UI Audit: Reviewed 5 products across web and mobile to identify component variations, visual inconsistencies, and interaction patterns.
Stakeholder Interviews: Engaged Product Managers, Engineers, and Designers to understand pain points and system needs.
User Research: Tested the usability of existing components to identify patterns causing confusion or errors.
Competitive Analysis: Studied best practices in design systems from leading tech companies.
Insights
Insights
Buttons, forms, and navigation elements varied in style and behavior across products.
Developers were often building components from scratch due to lack of reusable patterns.
Designers spent 30–40% of their time recreating or adjusting components.
Accessibility compliance was inconsistent across products.
Strategy
Strategy
Component Prioritization: Ranked components by usage frequency and business impact. Buttons, inputs, and cards were the first to standardize.
Token System: Defined colors, typography, spacing, and iconography as design tokens to ensure consistency across platforms.
Governance Model: Created a system for updates, versioning, and cross-team approvals.
Documentation: Used a living document with usage guidelines, code snippets, and design rationale.
Design
Design
Created wireframes, low-fidelity and hi-fidelity mockups of core components to explore layouts and states.
Tested variations with internal teams for feedback on clarity, usability, and consistency.
Wireframe
Wireframe
Wireframes map structure, layout, and user flow—focusing on function before visual polish.
Lo-Fidelity
Lo-Fidelity
A lo-fidelity design quickly explores structure and interaction, prioritizing speed, alignment, and user intent over visual detail.
Hi-Fidelity
Hi-Fidelity
A hi-fidelity design brings the experience to life with refined visuals, realistic content, and polished interactions—ready for validation and delivery.
Prototypes
Prototypes
Developed an interactive prototype of components in Figma, allowing designers and engineers to see behavior across web and mobile.
Conducted usability testing for new components, focusing on clarity, accessibility, and interaction patterns.
Level 100
Level 100
Level 200
Level 200
Level 300
Level 300
Level 400
Level 400
Decisions
Decisions
Standardized button sizes, padding, and typography to reduce variation.
Reduced unnecessary component variations to streamline design and code.
Reduced hidden layers and adopted a modular approach to allow flexibility without complexity.
Added AI-assisted recommendations for component usage in future projects.
Buttons
Buttons
Standardized buttons ensure consistency, accessibility, and predictable interactions across the product.
Padding
Padding
Standardized padding creates visual rhythm and consistency across layouts.
Typography
Typography
A unified type system improves readability and creates consistent visual hierarchy.
AI-Assisted
AI-Assisted
AI helps designers select proven components, reducing variation and rework over time.
Implementation
Implementation
Collaboration with Engineering: Components were built as shared React and iOS/Android libraries, linked to design tokens.
Jira Integration: Each component had a story tracking design, dev implementation, and QA.
Documentation Portal: Centralized repository for designers and developers with interactive examples, code snippets, and accessibility notes.
Deliverables
Deliverables
UI Audit Report: Highlighted inconsistencies and opportunities.
Design Tokens: Color, typography, spacing, icons.
Component Library: Buttons, forms, cards, modals, navigation elements.
Documentation: Living repository with design rationale and code snippets.
Design Guidelines: Standards for visual, interaction, and accessibility compliance.
Interactive Prototypes: Interactive, cross-platform component prototypes.
UI Audit Report
UI Audit Report
Audit of Existing UI components, identifying inconsistencies accross products
Design Tokens
Design Tokens
Unified colors, typography, spacing, and icons as reusable design tokens
Component Library
Component Library
Standardized buttons, forms, cards, modals, and navigation components
Documentation
Documentation
Documentation that reduces ambiguity and accelerates delivery.
Design Guidelines
Design Guidelines
A shared set of standards that turn design intent into buildable patterns.
Interactive Prototypes
Interactive Prototypes
High-fidelity prototypes that test flows, interactions, and assumptions early.
Learnings
Learnings
Prioritizing core, high-impact components first made adoption easier.
Clear documentation and governance were crucial for long-term scalability.
Collaborative design with engineering reduced friction and improved quality.
Integrating AI recommendations into design workflows improved component reuse and decision-making.
Outcome
Outcome
Reduced Design Rework: 35% less time spent recreating components.
Faster Onboarding: New designers onboarded in 50% less time.
Consistency: UI audit showed 90% reduction in visual and interaction inconsistencies.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Engineering adoption improved, with fewer back-and-forths in reviews.
Accessibility: All core components met WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
35% Faster
35% Faster
Design process
Design process
90% Reduction
90% Reduction
In inconsistencies
In inconsistencies
50% Quicker
50% Quicker
Onboarding
Onboarding
Accessibility
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1AA Compliant
WCAG 2.1AA Compliant
Framework
Framework
How design decisions are made and implemented. A clear framework aligns teams, supports scalability, and enables predictable delivery.
Gestures
Gestures
Defines consistent touch and motion interactions so experiences feel intuitive, discoverable, and accessible across devices.
Color
Color
Communicates meaning, status, and brand identity. Color standards ensure accessibility, clarity, and consistent visual language.
Infograpics
Infograpics
Translate complex ideas into clear, visual narratives. Effective infographics improve comprehension and support communication.
Takeaway
Takeaway
By creating a scalable design system, I helped unify visual and interaction patterns across multiple products, reduce design rework, accelerate onboarding, and establish a foundation for consistent, accessible, and high-quality user experiences.
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